11/26/2012

Beverly Hills police responded to a call that someone had been tied up and needed help at “X Factor” judge Simon Cowell’s house, but the report turned out to be false, authorities said Monday.

The caller initially told Beverly Hills police that the person had been tied up with duct tape and gave an address outside of city limits, according to authorities. The caller then said the incident was taking place at “Simon Cowell’s” house, which is in Beverly Hills.

The police spokesman added that Sunday’s incident was rather amateurish.

“The call was so ridiculously done it had no credibility with the dispatcher … The dispatcher immediately suspected it was a fake,” he said, although officers were sent to check out the report just in case.

Law enforcement might get serious about this if it puts too much demand on their manpower or makes them look inept. To a degree, I think they may be concerned about the latter — which could be why they said this was amateurish, so they checked but didn’t take it seriously. It doesn’t help law enforcement’s image if this becomes commonplace.

A policeman’s skills are much more different than a prosecutor’s, askeptic. This is not the ’30s. There are experts in electronic terrorism. They work for the police. The Secret Service has a big bunch. If the police get the guy and the evidence, then the prosecutor steps in and prosecutes.

I understood you. I worked for both the Cook County State’s Attorney and the Chicago Crime Commission before I became a lawyer. Law enforcement has evolved a lot. J. Edgar Hoover had a lot to do with it. So did O.W. Wilson. Prosecutors no longer muster armies because they’re the only police. There are police, lots of them, well-trained and experts at their work. Prosecutors support them in court.

When somebody gets hurt, or it happens to a politician, whichever comes first, SWATting will be seriously investigated.

No. Common folks have already been hurt or killed, had families terrorized, and pets shot dead by SWAT teams. However, because these were common people, the cops got off without even having to apologize or fix the damage. Someone “important” (ie: wealthy or a politician or both, or a relative of a LEO) has to be hurt or killed before you see any changes. And, those changes will just be to write laws exempting the LEOs and rubber-stamp judges from being held responsible. All in the name of national security, anti-terrorism, or law’n’auduh.